Hobbies
Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2024 8:56 am
What do you people do if you ever get any free time? I have too many interests. Of course, we live on kind of a mini-farm, but I just consider that our life and not a hobby. Before we moved here, I would have said gardening was a hobby, but now it's just something we do. I really do enjoy it a lot from right around now up to mid-June when it gets oppressively hot and humid, but it's still not really a hobby, any more than animal care is. But apart from that, I:
Play guitar. I picked up the guitar when I was probably 15 and have never really practiced seriously. At the time I was a trumpet player, and the guitar was just fun. Right now, though, I'm doing a kind of 31-day challenge, actually practicing every day. I have only a very cheap acoustic guitar, so there's no electric stuff in my repertoire, and no money to try to expand into that world even if I wanted to. The specific things I'm working on are learning Clapton's acoustic Layla, learning a complicated (for me) blues phrase, and working on some fingering exercises. I also, it turns out, have to adjust the way I do barre chords, since I've always done them incorrectly. This is actually the hardest thing in my practice routine. I'm working on the barre chords by playing Blues Traveler's Hook, which is a simple enough progression, but it has some neat tricks with the pinky on some of the chords.
Play harmonica. This I picked up a few years ago, and did several of the aforesaid month-long challenges, mostly learning to play Irish tunes. I got a Paddy Richter-tuned harp to make the Irish stuff work better. I never got into trying to learn to play as an accompanist or do solos or anything because there's basically no chance I'll ever play in a group.
Shoot, mostly pistols. I teach concealed carry classes and have taken a lot of training on pistols, and I shoot in competitions (mostly IDPA now, because USPSA is a clown show at the leadership level--IDPA is a dumber game than USPSA, but at least I don't feel like I'm supporting a corrupt board when I pay my dues). I usually do maybe a half dozen competitions a year. It's hard to give up a whole Saturday. I do structured dry fire practice pretty seriously for much of the year, but I usually quit when deer season starts (early Nov) and then pick it up again right around this time. Haven't gotten to it yet this spring, but I expect soon. There's a match 2nd Sat of April I'd like to try to get to, and I certainly need a few weeks of practice ahead of that.
I guess hunting may be a hobby, too, but I tend to think of it more as just a thing I do. I am low-tech. No trail cams, no bait (baiting is legal where I live--people put out corn or apples), and I have no scopes on my hunting rifles. Of course, the rifles themselves involve some tech, but I actually typically hunt with the muzzle loader right through rifle season.
I've made incredibly weak efforts a couple of times to learn something about chess, but it is apparently just not my bag.
Play guitar. I picked up the guitar when I was probably 15 and have never really practiced seriously. At the time I was a trumpet player, and the guitar was just fun. Right now, though, I'm doing a kind of 31-day challenge, actually practicing every day. I have only a very cheap acoustic guitar, so there's no electric stuff in my repertoire, and no money to try to expand into that world even if I wanted to. The specific things I'm working on are learning Clapton's acoustic Layla, learning a complicated (for me) blues phrase, and working on some fingering exercises. I also, it turns out, have to adjust the way I do barre chords, since I've always done them incorrectly. This is actually the hardest thing in my practice routine. I'm working on the barre chords by playing Blues Traveler's Hook, which is a simple enough progression, but it has some neat tricks with the pinky on some of the chords.
Play harmonica. This I picked up a few years ago, and did several of the aforesaid month-long challenges, mostly learning to play Irish tunes. I got a Paddy Richter-tuned harp to make the Irish stuff work better. I never got into trying to learn to play as an accompanist or do solos or anything because there's basically no chance I'll ever play in a group.
Shoot, mostly pistols. I teach concealed carry classes and have taken a lot of training on pistols, and I shoot in competitions (mostly IDPA now, because USPSA is a clown show at the leadership level--IDPA is a dumber game than USPSA, but at least I don't feel like I'm supporting a corrupt board when I pay my dues). I usually do maybe a half dozen competitions a year. It's hard to give up a whole Saturday. I do structured dry fire practice pretty seriously for much of the year, but I usually quit when deer season starts (early Nov) and then pick it up again right around this time. Haven't gotten to it yet this spring, but I expect soon. There's a match 2nd Sat of April I'd like to try to get to, and I certainly need a few weeks of practice ahead of that.
I guess hunting may be a hobby, too, but I tend to think of it more as just a thing I do. I am low-tech. No trail cams, no bait (baiting is legal where I live--people put out corn or apples), and I have no scopes on my hunting rifles. Of course, the rifles themselves involve some tech, but I actually typically hunt with the muzzle loader right through rifle season.
I've made incredibly weak efforts a couple of times to learn something about chess, but it is apparently just not my bag.